Tbilisi. A high-level meeting on prevention of violence against women in politics and elections was organized by the UN Gender Theme Group in Tbilisi. “Violence against women is also linked to their small representation. One of the reasons why women experience violence is that they lack the opportunity to be fully empowered and are not decision-makers. This is an issue that would be good to observe improved and to hear from international partners as to what is going on to address it. This issue has not been the main focus until recently, therefore our conference will pay its attention to elimination of violence against women in politics and elections. Our recommendation is to urge all politicians and political parties to work on this issue”, - stated Sabine Machl, UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia. Read more…  Source: www.ginsc.net

Tbilisi. According to information of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), the Parliament unjustifiably refused to give an employee leave and dismissed from work. On February 26, the Kutaisi Court of Appeal ruled that in May 2018 the Parliament of Georgia unjustifiably refused an employee to take leave and dismissed from work. With the assistance of GYLA, the plaintiff filed an appeal against the decision on denial of use of the right to take leave and dismissal from work in the Kutaisi City Court, which did not satisfy the appeal. The Kutaisi Court of Appeal reversed the decision of the first instance court and ruled that arguments of the Parliament were not convincing. This decision has not entered into force yet and the Parliament of Georgia retains an opportunity to continue the dispute in the Supreme Court”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Public Defender Responds to Protests Launched by Residents of Shukruti Village of Chiatura Municipality.  Residents of the village of Shukruti say that Georgian Manganese LLC, during the mining activity, damages the environment, roads and their houses. They have been blocking the Shukruti mine in protest since February 17, 2020 but don’t have any result.  ‘The Public Defender of Georgia calls on the relevant agencies to use all the resources to identify the causes of damage and to conduct result-oriented negotiations with the company. The Public Defender also calls on the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development to mediate and personally engage in the negotiations between the Shukruti population and the company to protect the locals’ rights to property and a healthy environment’, - Is noted in the statement of the Public defender.  Read more…   Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) considers that editorial independence of the broadcaster confronts alarming risks and requires immediate actions to be taken. “EMC considers that dismissing those responsible for editorial independence, unlawfully transferring them from important positions at the news office and oppressing them to quit their job is a blatant intervention of the management into the editorial policy of the broadcaster and affects independence of the broadcaster. Current situation requires extraordinary and immediate actions to be taken”, - is noted in the statement released by EMC, - “In our point of view it is essential to urge the Parliament and the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara to use effective parliamentary control mechanisms immediately in order to protect independence of the editorial policy of Adjara Broadcaster and labor rights of journalists working there as well as to strengthen institutional guarantees of editorial and organizational independence of the broadcaster”. Read more… Source :https://emc.org

Imereti. The specialists invited by Local Democracy Agency Georgia, lawyer - Anna Chapidze and psychologist -Tea Panchulidze, organized the seminars for the pupils of Kutaisi, Sachkhere and Zestafoni Municipalities Public Schools. Seminars was about the following issues, such as: - Child Rights Code; - Forms of violence against children; - The role of mediation in juveniles; Read more… Source: Social network

GIZ Law Program publishes a handbook: Proposal for reform of the Law of Unjust Enrichment. An electronic version of the publication can be downloaded from the following link... Source:The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Public Defender responds to the death of a 60-year-old IDP in the former Geologist sanatorium building of Tskaltubo. The Public Defender of Georgia calls on the Agency for IDPs, Eco-Migrants and Livelihoods to use all the leverage at its disposal to ensure the long-term resettlement of IDPs from the life-threatening facilities, and in case of absence of sufficient resources (apartments), to provide rented houses for such families before the long-term resettlement. Read more… Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes a speech of James Baldwin made in 1965 at the University of Cambridge, translated by Mariam Shalvashvili.  “It comes as a great shock to discover that the country which is your birthplace and to which you owe your life and your identity, has not, in its whole system of reality, evolved any place for you. The disaffection, the demoralization, and the gap between one person and another only on the basis of the color of their skin, begins there and accelerates – accelerates throughout a whole lifetime – to the present when you realize you’re thirty and are having a terrible time managing to trust your countrymen.”  Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

On December 18, 2019, in New York, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, which obliges all member states to close orphanages immediately.  According to the resolution, states should ensure return of children to biological families, however, if it is impossible, children should only be provided with services close to the family environment.  Read more… Source: https://phrgeorgia.wordpress.com

The web portal CsoGeorgia.org releases a weekly newsletter of grants competition, contests, vacancies, fellowships and tenders for civil society organizations and for any interested person. Newsletter...

Tbilisi. On February 25, there was conducted a presentation of a book – “My adventure and some memories” at Writers’ House of Georgia.  “Soviet Past Research Laboratory” presented memories of Christine (Badu) Todua-Tsulukidze, a woman living as a political emigrant in Berlin since 1921. She emigrated together with Mikheil Tsulukidze, her Social – Democrat husband, and settled in Berlin, where Christine managed to obtain higher medical education and pursue successful medical practice. In her memories she retells specifically about her tough life experience.  Read more…  Source: http://sovlab.ge

Tbilisi. On February 24-25 GCRT conducted a training on Istanbul protocol implementation in Tbilisi. The training was held at Human Rights House Tbilisi and was attened by the representatives of Georgian Young Lawyers' Association ( GYLA) and professionals from GCRT's office in Gori. “During two days sessions, experts and participants discussed the topics of investigation and documentation of torture and ill treatment, as well as medical ethics and general guidelines for gathering evidences and documenting the allegations”. Read more… Source: gcrt.ge

Tbilisi. On February 25, an exhibition dedicated to the 99th anniversary of the Soviet occupation of Georgia, organized by #IDFI in collaboration with the society Memorial, is being held in the Parliament of Georgia. “Various archival materials and stories, describing the invasion of the Bolshevik Red Army in 1921, Soviet terror and personal tragedies of different people, are displayed at the exhibition”. Read more… Source: Social network

Samegrelo. Today, on February 25 at association "Atinati" a seminar was held about "Reproductive Health". "During the seminar, youth had opportunity to get information about: What does reproductive health mean and why is it important to discuss about it and educate young people; STI - sexually transmitted infections and its types; STI complications and etc." Read more… Source: Social network

The National Bureau of Enforcement with the cooperation of the project “Better Commercial Law and Legal Practice in Georgia” – co-financed by the European Union and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), continues trainings of state bailiffs for the activities of private bailiff. With the support of the project, a training module was created, 9 local trainers were trained and certified and a relevant text-book was developed. Read more… Source: Social network

Kakheti. “Improving health and educational development possibilities for disadvantaged mothers and children” is the title of the project through which socially disadvantaged babies in Kakheti received their gift sets. This project was also implemented by the EU-funded Kakheti Regional Development Foundation. In 2018, a total of 60 beneficiaries have been supported in Akhmeta, Gurjaani and Telavi municipalities. “The EU has been financing this project since 2016. The partner organisations are the “Innovations and Reforms Centre” and “Europe Justice and Human Rights International Justice Institute”. The main objective of this project is to help women and children. 60 gift packages have been handed out; we have only two more to deliver. This year’s supply is almost complete, but the project will continue next year and 60 gift packages will be handed out again. The first criterion for receiving this support is that the family has to be disadvantaged. Some families may not have this status, but based on the family conditions, they can [still] benefit from this,” - explains Tamara Bekauri, Director of Kakheti Regional Development Foundation. She also says that, in addition to the gift sets, the EU funded training courses where mothers received both interesting and essential information about how to care for their babies. Read more… Source: https://eeas.europa.eu

Tbilisi. The Special Preventive Group of the Public Defender of Georgia carried out monitoring in the penitentiary institution No 3 on September 16-17, 2019.  The report refers to the difficult situation of rehabilitation and re-socialization and indicates that inmates spend 23 hours in cells without any activity and can walk in the yard only for an hour. In addition, there are inmates who have been held in solitary confinement for months and even years, which, according to the Public Defender, severely impacts their psychological condition and constitutes ill-treatment.  Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. According to information of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), Ivane Machavariani, Minister of Finance, regularly violates the Constitution, which serves the basis for his impeachment. "On February 24, the faction “Independent Members of Parliament” called Ivane Machavariani, Minister of Finance of Georgia, to the sitting of the Committee on Sector Economy and Economic Policy. He did not attend the sitting. According to the Constitution, “in case it is required, a member of the Government [...] - is obliged to attend [...] sittings of a committee [...], answer questions raised at sittings and present a report on activities carried out.” Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On February 14, 2020, the Public Defender of Georgia was informed about the illegal deprivation of liberty of a girl and an attempted forced marriage in the city of Marneuli. ‘The case has once again clearly shown the challenges relating to the protection of and assistance to minor victims of violence in Georgia. The observation carried out by the Public Defender and her representatives on the ground showed that the local law enforcement agency is not free of stereotypical attitudes, which is an essential hindrance to its effective functioning. This is particularly noteworthy for the protection of the rights situation of girls and women of ethnic minorities’, - is noted in the statement of the Public Defender of Georgia. Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. GYLA considers that the editorial policy of Adjara TV is in danger of change. “On February 19, 2020, the Board of Trustees of Adjara Public Broadcaster endorsed a staff list submitted by Director, which abolished positions of Deputy Heads of Services”, - is noted in the statement released by the organization, - “Developments at Adjara Public Broadcaster, including the change in the staff list, reinforce doubts that there is an attempt to remove particular people from those making information policy, hire new staff and change the editorial policy of the channel”. Read more… Source: https://gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition appraises processes developed at Adjara Public Broadcaster.  “We, “Media Advocacy Coalition” member organizations consider that processes, taking place at Adjara Broadcaster, are still alarming and harmful to the idea of public broadcasting. Recent developments have once again reaffirmed that an artificial crisis, occurred at Adjara Broadcaster, is of a political nature and should not remain beyond the attention of local or international community”, - is noted in the statement released by the Coalition.  Read more… Source: https://www.qartia.ge

Tbilisi. Today, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria presented the 5th special report on the situation of equality in Georgia. “Unfortunately, despite the provision of legislative safeguards, the situation of realization of the right to equality remains critical in Georgia, which is further promoted by the absence of the State’s unified vision. State agencies do not have any policy regarding the principle of equality relating to the matters within their competences, which is why, instead of systemically combating discriminatory practices, efforts are directed at eliminating individual rights violations,” said Nino Lomjaria. Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge